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THE SCAPEGOAT
By Walter Joseph Delaney.
Whiz!
Around the corner came the auto
mobile, driven at.a reckless rate of
speed, an anxious-faced young man
at the wheel. There was a cry sharp
and terrified, then a ringing clatter,
the cry echoed in masculine accents.
There was a loud crash, and the vil
lage marshal a square away came
I I llllll
iSllHllln-"
The Stern-Faced Judge Listened.
sprinting to reach the man who had
precipitated a double disaster-
The whirling machine had only
grazed a fair young lady because a
chance pedestrian hastily pulled her
back from death. The corner of a
parcel she carried, however, was
struck by a projection of the auto
and dashed to the sidewalk.
The driver of the auto leaped to
the ground quickly. He ran over to
the young girl, who leaned against
a. ii3 half fainting.
"She is not hurt. Thank heaven!"
he cried fervently. Then he saw the
official approaching. His face grew
grave. "Will he stop me?" he asked
of the young man who stood half
supporting the girl.
"He certainly will," was the defi
nite reply. You were exceeding the
speed limit recklessly and they are
very severe here. You will have to go
to the court "
"Impossible! My friend," cried the
man. "I am on a vital, urgent mis
sion. The seconds count and delay
may sacrifice a human life."
"Quick, then," spoke the other, and
he touched the long auto duster his
companion wore.
"What do you mean?"
"Ill take your place. Off with it.
Go!"
The next moment Willis Reeves
wondered what stirring impulse had
actuated him to assume a penalty for
a person he had never seen before.
He had whipped the coat from the
owner of the auto and donned it in
a flash. The machine sped away, its
owner shouting out some inaudible
reassuring promise drowned by the
noise of the exhaust
The young girl recovered from her
half dazed condition. She tottered
over to where the parcel had been
dashed to the ground. It clinked and
clattered. She opened it, gazed' at
break and ruin and sat down on the
curb, crying as if her heart would
break. The breathless official came
dashing up to the spot.
"Was that your automobile?" he
demanded.
"I'm responsible," replied Reeves
evasively.
"Then you are under arrest. This
dangerous running has got to be
stopped. We'll make an example of
you."
A subordinate officer arrived. He"
seized Reeves by the arm at the
direction of his superior.
"Hold on what about that young
lady?" interposed Reeves, turning to
the weeping girl at the curbi